SHANGHAI, CHINA – His Majesty King Letsie III went on a charm offensive in Shanghai on Monday as he tried to woo international businessmen to invest in Lesotho, describing the country as a stable democracy in Africa. King Letsie was addressing guests at the Shanghai World Expo 2010 to mark Lesotho’s 44th independence celebrations, the […]
SHANGHAI, CHINA – Trade Minister Popane Lebesa on Monday urged Basotho businessmen to take advantage of the World Expo 2010 to attract international investors. Speaking to the Lesotho Times on the sidelines of the expo on Monday, Lebesa said Basotho businesspeople needed to take the initiative to find investors for their businesses and start-up projects. […]
MASERU — Lesotho has missed out on a rare opportunity to take charge of an official international match after the country’s top referee failed a fitness test two weeks ago. Paul Phomane had been named the match official for a 2012 Olympic Games preliminary qualifier between Namibia and Botswana later this month. The world football […]
MASERU — Lioli were the biggest losers when the finalists for this year’s Vodacom Soccer Spectacular tournament were announced yesterday. The Teyateyaneng giants — who command a large, colourful following — were not among the eight teams that garnered the most SMS votes to qualify for the richest tournament in domestic football. LCS, winners of […]
MASERU — Lioli skipper Thabo Masualle is urging his side to remain focused after Tse Nala won the Nthane Brothers Holdings Independence Cup on Monday. The three-day tournament was played at Bambatha Tšita Sports Arena and was contested by last season’s top four teams in the Vodacom Premier League – Matlama, Lioli, LMPS and LDF. […]
MASERU — Lesotho has made a slow start to the Commonwealth Games with all of its athletes failing to get past the first hurdles in their respective disciplines. Lesotho’s 28-strong team arrived in New Delhi last Friday with hopes of improving on Lesotho tally of one medal from the last Games in Melbourne in 2006. […]
MASERU — The knives are out for senior members of the ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) party as the bitter factional fights within the party intensified. At least 42 out 80 LCD constituencies have petitioned the party to axe seven of the nine members of the party’s supreme national executive committee. Only party leader […]
MASERU — Opposition MPs this week united in condemning the proposed Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister (Retirement and Spouses’ Benefits) Bill 2010 that was tabled in parliament last week. The MPs told the Lesotho Times that the Bill was “a nasty piece of legislation” aimed at extorting public funds. The Bill, which seeks to […]
MASERU — A report by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on the AuditorGeneral’s financial reports for 2004/5 and 2005/6 has split MPs. There was heated debate in parliament on Tuesday after the chairman of the committee, Moeketse Malebo, proposed that the report be adopted by the House. The report cites several government ministries as having […]
MASERU — The High Court is today expected to hear an application by students seeking to force authorities at Limkonkwing University of Creative Technology (LUCT) to re-open the university. The university was closed for an indefinite period on September 16 following student demonstrations. The students were protesting against poor lack of internet services, lack of […]
MASERU — A 26-year-old man from Ha-Khoeli in Berea two weeks ago handed himself to the police after he battered to death a man he found in bed with his mother. Acting police spokesperson ‘Mantolo Mothibeli said the suspect killed the 33-year-old man after he found him sleeping with his 53-year old mother on September […]
MASERU — A High Court judge on Tuesday told a defence lawyer representing Habofanoe Ntsie to stick to the murder trial before court and not drag in the case involving the killing of the prime minister’s son. Prominent Maseru lawyer Haae Phoofolo is representing Ntsie who is facing two counts of murder. Ntsie is being […]
MASERU — A six-year-old girl from Ha-Ngoatonyane in Mazenod was raped and later found strangled two weeks ago. A 16-year-old suspect has been arrested in connection with the murder. Acting police spokesperson, ‘Mantolo ‘Mothibeli, confirmed the incident. “A six-year-old girl was found dead near Ngoatonyane Primary School after her father reported to the chief that […]
MASERU — The main opposition All Basotho Convention (ABC) party is facing a serious cash crunch. The party has been unable to withdraw funds from its account held at First National Bank (FNB) over the past couple of months. The party’s former secretary-general, Macaefa Billy, and party leader Thomas Thabane were the only signatories following […]
MASERU — It was launched amid pomp and fanfare. It was hailed as a panacea to Lesotho’s human resources woes. The launch of Limkokwing University of Creative Technology (LUCT) in October 2008 was a red-carpet event. Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili was over the moon. Mosisili expressed hope that the new university would meet an urgent […]
IT was a weekend of celebration across the country. At least 2 200 graduates were capped at a colourful graduation ceremony at our glorified high school in Roma last weekend. I wish to congratulate those who made it and welcome them into the real world. But Scrutator has no sympathy for those thick, dumb 100 […]
MASERU — The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the government of Lesotho last Thursday launched the Support for Financial Inclusion in Lesotho (SUFIL) project that seeks to improve access to finance for low-income individuals in rural areas. The US$4 085 000 three-year project will run until 2013 and will seek to service individuals who […]
MASERU — Lesotho’s annual inflation rate dropped to 3.4 percent in July down from 3.8 percent the previous month, according to the latest figures released by the Central Bank of Lesotho (CBL). The bank’s monetary policy committee said in a statement last week that the drop represented 0.4 percentage points from the previous month’s figure. […]
MASERU — Lesotho will try to focus on competing at the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi despite the messy run-up to the sporting extravaganza for mostly former British colonies. Top athletes have been threatening to pull out of the gala, now dubbed the Shame Games, because of the filthy and inhospitable conditions at the residence […]
MASERU — Lioli players will be smiling all the way to the bank tomorrow when they become the first footballers in the history of the game in Lesotho to receive salaries. The players, who signed contracts this season, will be paid between M400 and M800 every month. On top of that the Tse Nala players […]
MASERU — Nil-all going into the last 10 minutes with the champions attacking zealously and a crowd baying for blood, it looked a classic scene where the little side would get swallowed up, as it usually does, by Goliath. But Maduma valiantly held on to grab a point and perhaps prove they won’t be pushovers […]
By Lerato Matheka MASERU — BAM Promotions has postponed indefinitely the premiere of its feature film, Likhapha tsa Mali, which was scheduled for Sterkinekor yesterday. Had the premiere taken place, the local film was set to be screened at Sterkinekor starting tomorrow until October 15. “Due to unavoidable circumstances the executive producer, BAM Promotions, has […]
By Lerato Matheka MASERU — Two local famo artists had to be content with the wooden spoon after their South African rival overwhelmed them at the annual South African Traditional Music Awards ceremony in Durban on Saturday. Koete and Morusu, who both work at mines in South Africa, were in the running for the best […]
By Khahliso Khama MASERU — It’s that time of the year again when South Africa celebrates one of its prominent arts extravaganzas, the Mangaung African Cultural Festival, best known simply as Macufe. And, as the 10-day gala in Bloemfontein kicks off tomorrow, the Macufe Youth Festival Road Show comes to Maseru this weekend. The road […]
MASERU — The Prime Minister’s office overshot its budget for 2005/6 by a whooping M8 million. The previous year the same office had overspent by a massive M6 million. This was despite the fact that in the two fiscal years the same office had received bridging finance in the form of a supplementary budget from […]
Ministry of Finance The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said the ministry had a deficit on Capital Account of M445 257 000. The report said there had been a cash shortage or loss as a result of fraud. The ministry’s principal secretary told the committee that the fraud was a result of officers who lent themselves […]
MASERU — The Christian Council of Lesotho (CCL) report tabled before a Sadc summit in Windhoek, Namibia, is set to be modified, the Lesotho Times has learnt. The report on the proportional representation seats saga will be reviewed with some changes being effected on the report before it is sent to Sadc in the next […]
MASERU — The main opposition All Basotho Convention (ABC) party yesterday officially sacked its secretary-general Macaefa Billy. Billy received his dismissal letter at around 10am yesterday when he arrived at the Lesotho Workers Party (LWP)’s offices from a botched meeting that had been called to discuss the future of the alliance. The meeting, which was […]
MASERU — A Mauritian woman is suing a Mosotho woman for having an adulterous affair with her husband. Anita Fiard is seeking damages of M500 000 from Lianano Mapetla for the suffering she said she experienced when Mapetla had a five-year adulterous affair with her husband. Fiard’s husband, Gaeta Fiard, died in August last year. […]
IEC can redeem itself
A PROPOSAL by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC)’s law committee to amend Lesotho’s electoral rules could prove a key turning point in halting post-election conflicts in Lesotho. If adopted, the proposals could significantly alter Lesotho’s electoral playing field. The opposition has often mourned that the current election rules were heavily skewed in favour of the […]